


one black coffee, please?

by clawsnbeak



Series: Pynch Prompt Collection [5]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Coffee Shop Owner Ronan Lynch, College Student Adam Parrish, First Dates, Fluff, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Minor Richard Gansey III/Blue Sargent, Ronan Lynch & Blue Sargent Friendship, Ronan Lynch Has Feelings, Ronan Lynch is Bad at Feelings, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish Fluff, Soft Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish, Strangers to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but they don't call it that lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 15:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20260246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clawsnbeak/pseuds/clawsnbeak
Summary: "Ronan had seen many people by the time the shop turned two years old, but there was one customer, though, that never failed to make his heart race. Dirty blond hair with a choppy cut framing high cheekbones and freckles gracing his skin, forming constellations Ronan longed to trace. His hands were a work of beauty. Ronan once dropped a sack of coffee beans on the floor at the sight of them wrapped around a paper coffee cup."Ronan and Blue run a coffeeshop together. Ronan falls for one particular customer. Three guesses on who it could possibly be.





	one black coffee, please?

**Author's Note:**

> For the tumblr prompt: "hey idk if you take prompts from like a list or something but could you do something with pynch and adam really struggling his first semester/year in uni? also i love your writing btw!!!!"
> 
> I took it a different route than I initially planned, which was a non-AU where Ronan goes over to Adam's dorm to cheer him up. Instead, I now have a full on coffeeshop AU. Hopefully, it's just as good.

“He’s back.”

Ronan pretended he didn’t hear Blue but he glanced over his shoulder too quickly for it to be subtle. This time, he really ignored Blue as he heard her laugh carry through the little coffee shop they ran together.

Gansey had voiced his concern more than once back when the shop was just an idea forming in their heads, a seemingly unachievable dream that would be their own, a place that didn’t require the University diploma’s neither had. It wasn’t strange Gansey didn’t trust them to work together, they had been fast enemies when Gansey introduced them. But their personalities had been too similar, too akin to not eventually reach a mutual understanding.

Both wanted to do something to pass the time life was giving out too quickly, something to ease their continuous boredom and restlessness. One late summer night, over too many beers, they had laughed and cried together, feeling a certainty in their respectively ruined futures until Noah had piped up and said, “I mean, worst case scenario, you end up working your entire lives in a coffee shop or something,” and thus the idea had been born.

“Cabeswater’s Coffee” they had called it, after a far off dream Ronan once had, about a place full of magic and possibilities. It felt fitting to give to the ruined building they bought, since it needed magic more than anything else.

Slowly they build up their shop, starting with cleaning up and deciding on the interior. They only argued twice a day, which was pretty good compared to their usual tally. 

Wood and a lot of greenery became their theme. One customer had once commented on it, telling them it felt like stepping into a small forest. They had bumped fists beneath the counter at that.

Not after long, their clientele increased, and most customers kept coming back. There was something about the little shop, crammed between a clothing store and a hairdresser soon to be out of business that charmed everyone who came in to return. 

Ronan had seen many people by the time the shop turned two years old, but there was one customer, though, that never failed to make his heart race. Dirty blond hair with a choppy cut framing high cheekbones and freckles gracing his skin, forming constellations Ronan longed to trace. His hands were a work of beauty. Ronan once dropped a sack of coffee beans on the floor at the sight of them wrapped around a paper coffee cup.

He drank his coffee black, no sweetener or syrup. He took them to go in the mornings and returned in the afternoon, except for Tuesdays. He worked on a laptop that was held together with masking tape until it was closing time. He had dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were, from what Ronan could tell, second-hand, though the fraying of the fabric was covered up well enough that nobody would notice if they didn’t pay close attention.

Ronan noticed.

Blue teased him about the boy but he saw her look over once or twice as well. Something about him made the magic Cabeswater’s Coffee held feel bleak and empty compared to the natural way he attracted all attention to himself unknowingly. There was something different about him, something Ronan has not been able to place since the moment he walked in 7 months ago, but it enraptured him. Ronan could not think about anything other than this beautiful boy and his tired eyes.

Ronan quickly moved behind the counter and asked for his order, even though he knew it by heart. Judging by the way the boy’s eyebrows rose, he knew Ronan knew it as well. He still gave his order, the slight lilt of his voice reminding Ronan of the place he had to leave behind a long time ago and the sole reason he kept asking every day.

He rung up the counter and took the boy’s money, always cash never by card. Blue once joked that he might be a stripper. Ronan had shame filled dreams for the weeks after.

As he handed the boy his coffee, he made sure their fingertips brushed each other briefly, a jolt of warmth shooting through his arm straight to his heart at the 0.5 seconds of touching.

The boy smiled at him for a second and Ronan would do anything to make it last longer. And then he was gone, leaving Ronan disorientated with a heart that would beat too fast for a long while after.

_ He will return _ , Ronan told himself and held on to that for the rest of the day.

“Stop checking the door,” Blue said, not for the first time. It was a habit, though, an unbreakable one that only came from longing. Ronan sighed and apprehensively averted his eyes. He felt Blue staring at him with sympathy, the way she looked at him often these days.

“He will come,” she said gentler this time. Ronan didn’t say anything but she understood anyway and squeezed his shoulder quickly before turning to their new customer.

Ronan eyed the customer, a nice looking guy, dimples visible as he laughed. His curls bounced as he walked over to the pick-up station. A boy who was attractive and judging by the looks of him kind as well. The guy could have been his type, if he wasn’t overshadowed by the grace of the boy that had been front and centre in his mind since the day he met him.

“Thank you, handsome,” the customer said, his voice low and sultry. He stared up at Ronan through half-lidded eyes and smiled, dimples more visible than they were before.

Ronan felt nothing.

Maybe, in some far of place in his mind, he felt almost flattered by the attention. With his appearance, not many people were brave enough to make a move, though Ronan had seen them stare appreciatively at him. Ronan couldn’t blame them, though. With his rugged handsomeness, amplified by the scars he wore, the back piece that curled around his neck, the shaved head, he wasn’t the most approachable guy. It didn’t help that his lips were almost always pulled into a sneer alternated with a sharp smirk that send people running.

Customers were often intimidated at first, their voices coming to a stuttering halt as they took Ronan in, the subdued way they continued their order making Ronan feel both powerful and ashamed. A knot forever curling in his chest that told him he wanted to be more, different. To be seen the way he was, not the way he looked. 

Sometimes, when he felt the tired boy look at him, his gaze nothing but curious and wishful, a possibility of hope bloomed in his chest instead. A warm feeling he held onto for as long as he could, even when the boy disappeared into the throng of people again.

The bell chimed again. Blue poked him sharply with her elbow, nodding her head to the door once before she went to the back with the excuse that, “The coffee beans need a refill”. She had refilled those only half an hour ago, but Ronan let her leave anyway, silently thanking her for her perceptiveness and cursing her for leaving his anti-social self with a beautiful boy at the same time.

“One black coffee, please,” the boy said, ever polite despite him visiting the coffeeshop nearly every day. He never once struck up a conversation with either Blue or Ronan, remaining a mystery Ronan wished to uncover.

The only thing Ronan knew about him was that he was most likely a Harvard student, judging from his worn bag, overflowing with books at every time of the day and the hoodie he once wore during the winter time, the logo printed on his chest.

“What is your name?” Ronan wanted to ask. He was many things, a brother, a rebel, a dreamer of impossible things made possible, but he was not a brave man. So, instead, he said: “That will be 3 dollars.”

The boy handed him the cash, always tipping despite the to Ronan obvious little money he had. Their fingers brushing and lingering for just a second too long. His fingertips weren’t as soft as Ronan imagined them to be, instead they were rough and calloused which could only indicate years of hard work. Somehow, it made Ronan feel warmer than before.

Ronan always took extra care in making the boy’s coffee. There was something vulnerable to him, something he hid very well but still lingered on the surface. He looked about ready to break from the invisible weight he was carrying, but he steadily moved forward to the pick-up area with a strength Ronan couldn’t help but admire.

Oh, how he wished their little shop was more like those overpriced chain stores, where names were written on the paper cups and Ronan could finally learn his name. No name Ronan gave him in his head seemed to fit right and Ronan was desperate for a name to whisper as he wished for the boy at night.

“Adam!”

The boy turned around, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. Ronan recognised the voice immediately and would have dropped the cup on the floor if he hadn’t placed it on the counter already. It was the voice that told him stories about dead Welsh kings when they were both caught in the clutches of their insomnia, the voice that had whispered words of comfort when Ronan couldn’t bear the sadness of his father’s death anymore, the boy he had come to see as a brother, more so than Declan ever was.

“Gansey, long time no see,” the boy,  _ Adam _ , replied, bumping his fist to Gansey’s as if they had done it countless times before. Ronan felt a surge of irrational jealousy well up in him. Adam always felt like he was his, as stupid as it may sound. Something for himself, someone that was entirely his own. Ronan shook those toxic emotions off quickly, though, knowing it wasn’t fair to think like this. Adam had his own life and friends like Ronan did and wasn’t something for him to claim. There was just something about him, a far off magical feeling Ronan couldn’t quite explain. A pull that forced Ronan to look at him, to want him, and that wasn’t as easy to shake off with rational thought.

“You two know each other?” 

A question that was on the tip on Ronan’s tongue, something he quite possibly would have asked if not for Blue, regarding the two with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Jane!” Gansey surged forward and wrapped Blue’s tiny frame in his arms. “I missed you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I missed you too,” Blue confessed, her voice grumpy, but Ronan could see the smile forming on her face. She relaxed into Gansey’s arms for a second before pulling back. She looked more at ease than she had in the time Gansey and Noah went on their little Europe adventure, but she looked at him with a more serious expression than Ronan had seen on her for awhile.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Gansey needed a second to think back, his mind positively full with his thoughts running around at rapid speed. He was either hyper-focussed or not at all, and it seemed like he was leaning towards the last one now.

“We have some classes together,” Adam answered in his place. Three pairs of eyes turned to him and he cowered a bit under the attention. 

“My name is Adam Parrish.”

Blue’s eyes flickered from Gansey to Ronan to Adam and back, focussing on Ronan for a few seconds longer. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes and Ronan feared the worst.

“Nice to meet you! We should all hang out sometimes,” she said, a smirk pulling at her lips, sharp and slightly bitter, one she had definitely learned from Ronan. Pride welled up inside of him at the sight.

“Since you never introduced us,” she now directed at Gansey who looked sheepish and regretful.

Gansey rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner. Ronan almost felt bad, but then remembered Gansey had kept Adam hidden from him, albeit probably not intentionally. The more intimate parts of him at least. Gansey had known Adam’s name for a longer time than he had and somehow he felt cheated, though it was irrational thinking. Ronan didn’t know if it was the fear of being left out, being replaced by a shiny new person Gansey liked better, a fear he had harboured since Gansey pulled him through some of the toughest periods in his life or if he was just really gone for Adam.

“Sure,” Gansey said eventually. He left shortly after, something about the books that were waiting for him at the local indie-shop he usually got his obscure history books from. He gave Blue a kiss on her nose, which she scrunched her nose at, and left with a promise of meeting up soon.

Blue moved at the sound of the little bell above the door ringing cheerily and welcomed the new customer coming in. Ronan couldn’t take his eyes off Adam, though. Not when he was closer than he had ever been, finally no counter between them anymore. 

Adam stood in the middle of the coffeeshop. His right shoulder was sagging under the weight of his messenger bag but he made no attempt to move.

He looked tired, again. The darkness under his eyes were almost permanently etched into the delicate freckled skin below. Ronan almost reached out to smooth out the lines of his forehead which was pulled into a frown as he observed him apprehensively. 

“Your coffee will get cold,” Ronan said, just to say something. He wasn’t good at this whole social interaction thing. His friends had found him and found him worthwhile to keep but making social connections himself was not something he did easily. Especially not when the person he was talking to had plagued his dreams for months. Someone he could finally put a name to which somehow made it more real.

Adam looked down at his left hand, his fingers loosely gripping the coffee cup that was getting colder the longer they were standing there. 

“You’re right. I should-“

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other for a second longer and Ronan prayed he could stay in this moment just for a little while longer. But his prayers were never heard, not when he asked God to please bring his father back, not when he prayed for a better life, not when he prayed to just make it all stop.

Adam sat in the back of coffeeshop where soft cushioned fauteuils were stylishly placed in an array of mismatched colours and fabrics, all picked by Blue. The seat Adam chose was partially hidden by a big plant, obscuring it from few from other customers. Not that there were many at this time of day. Most were on their way home, back to their families and loved ones. 

Back home. 

Ronan had come to see Cabeswater’s Coffee as his home. The place where he could be most himself, surrounded by his friends and people he saw everyday. People he had gotten attached to. He relished in the comfort of having a space that was shared by people he actually cared for.

He sneaked glances at Adam during the rest of his shift. The way he was hunched over his laptop in front of him, cringing at the pain Adam would feel when he got up. He looked like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, but it didn’t hold him back from furiously typing on his computer. Ronan was almost surprised the tape held and the thing didn’t just fall apart beneath his beautiful hands.

It was nearing closing time when Ronan was starting his clean-up round. Something he didn’t like doing but knew it was necessary. As he walked past Adam’s corner, he saw a body slumped over in his seat. His heart stopped for a second before he saw the gentle inhale and exhale of his breath and realised Adam had just fallen asleep.

There was something worrisome about how far Adam pushed himself. He had seen him worn out more often than he had seen him laughing. Most days there was a subtle shaking of his hands as he reached for the coffeecup Ronan held out to him. Something made Ronan want to wrap him in blankets and hold him until he finally looked more at ease.

Even in his sleep, Adam mouth was pulled down, the lines in his forehead visible from frowning. His fingers twitched restlessly and Ronan’s heart squeezed in his chest.

“Parrish?”

Adam woke up with a start, his eyes momentarily wild before they settled in something more absent, carefully casual. Ronan wondered if he practised in the mirror. 

“I fell asleep,” he said bewildered. He eyed Ronan before realisation hit him fully. “Oh god, I fell asleep. I’m so sorry.”

Ronan stopped his apologising with a wave of his hand. “It’s fine, it’s not closing time yet.”

Adam started collecting his laptop and the few books that were laying in a neat pile and put them in his bag with an efficiency Ronan had never seen on a person. He looked helplessly at Blue. He didn’t want to let him go, not yet. Not when they had talked more than ever. Not when he finally knew his  _ name _ . 

Blue made some rapid hand motions that didn’t make sense at all. He shrugged lightly and Blue looked about ready to smack him over the head, but smacked her own forehead instead. She started mouthing something, quickly turning around when Adam briefly glanced her way.

“Again,” Adam said, focussing on Ronan. “I’m sorry.”

Adam moved towards the door before Ronan could react, but he sprinted after him in a way that was hopefully not too obvious. From gauging Blue’s reaction he really did not succeed but right now his sole mission was to make this boy stay.

“You can stay,” Ronan said quickly, slightly out of breath. 

Adam looked at him incredulously.

“For a while,” Ronan added, trying his best to sound casual, as if he offered this to all of his customers. “At least I can finally meet Gansey’s new best friend.”

The last words were unintentionally harsh but Adam seemed too tired to notice. He was swaying on his feet, his skin even paler than it was before. Ronan could see the veins running up his arms, the blue delicate and vulnerable. He pointed at a seat near the counter and Adam took a seat without protesting, something that worried Ronan even more. He didn’t seem like a guy you could tell what to do. Something headstrong was always a present with Adam which made Ronan even more attracted to him.

Ronan made Adam a cup of coffee, his usual order, and set it down in front of him. Adam pulled his wallet out but Ronan stopped him with a hand on his. Adam looked up at him, frozen in motion. There was something charged between them, the heat of Adam’s hand seeping into his, the contrast of his soft hands compared to Adam’s rough ones sending shivers down his spine. His hand was trembling when he pulled away, the butterflies in his stomach, those he kept contained at all times, swarming around freely now.

“Thank you,” Adam said softly, his cheeks a light pink. Ronan felt pride in causing that. He absentmindedly wondered if he could put “I once made a pretty boy blush” on his resume but decided against it. This moment was for them.

Ronan watched him closely, feeling as though he finally could without the distance that made him look like a creep. “Do you ever sleep?”

The question came out unpromptedly but Ronan had been worried for some time now, seeing Adam deteriorate more and more as the year went by.

Adam laughed, thankfully, and put his cup down, his hands folding around it to feel the warmth. “I feel like I haven’t slept in years,” he said with surprising honesty.

“Your prestigious university beating you down?”

“Pretty much.”

They talked until the sky turned orange, to pink, to midnight blue. Adam explained how he came from a shitty home life, one that he didn’t want to give too many details on yet, but Ronan understood shitty home lives better than most and didn’t push. Everybody had their demons and he wasn’t one for judging. Instead, he kept quiet for once and let Adam keep talking, about his major, the few friends he had at Harvard University, how hard he had worked to get there, and how it wasn’t as easy as Adam had expected it to be. The doubt Adam carried with him was almost tangible thing between them and Ronan wanted nothing more than to make it disappear, though he knew this was something Adam had to do for themselves.

When they finally realised how long they had been talking, it was almost midnight. Both boys paused from shock but laughed together. It had been easy to talk to Adam, Ronan realised. He was so much more than Ronan had thought of him. More than just a pretty boy with tired eyes. He was smart, funny, and he made Ronan feel things nobody ever succeeded in.

Adam seemed to be almost guilty when he told Ronan he had to go. Ronan was disappointed but masked it beneath a smirk and a “you gonna miss me?” which made Adam blush. Ronan felt his own ears heat up and quickly retrieved his keys from the back.

Blue had left sometime earlier, pecking Ronan on the cheek and ruffling Adam’s hair with a surprising gentleness she didn’t show to many people. She had thrown a wink over her shoulder at Ronan and he was suddenly very glad Adam had his back to the door.

“I had a nice time,” Adam said, a bit awkwardly. Ronan was oddly endeared. It almost sounded like the end of a date and Ronan suddenly wondered if it had been one. He wished it was, he wished he had the privilege to take Adam out on a date, let him finally have a bit of fun he clearly missed.

  
  


“Me too,” Ronan said honestly. He didn’t lie and though he sometimes hid was he was really feeling in a bunch of half-truths he didn’t feel compelled to now. Adam had already wormed his way into his heart, breaking down the walls little by little with every smile and soft touch they had shared during the night. A small kick to his ankle as Ronan said something mildly offensive, a brush of hands when handed freshly brewed coffee, like they had done so many times before. There was no need to lie to Adam, he wasn’t going to hurt him. Ronan had rarely felt this safe with someone but somehow it felt right. As if he was finally in a place he should be in. A place where he truly belonged.

“Is it too forward of me to ask-“

“No!” Ronan quickly cut in. “I was gonna ask too.”

“Oh,” Adam said, looking at his feet with the beginning of a smile on his lips. “Good.”

“Friday? 7 pm?” Ronan asked before he lost the courage.

“It’s a date,” Adam replied, fully smiling now. The frowning lines had disappeared, his eyes sparkling instead of dull like they had been before. It almost felt like he was staring right at the sun, unable to look away.

Ronan fell a little more for him right then. 

Then he leaned forward and pecked Ronan’s cheek lightly. Ronan felt the bottom of his stomach drop out, his knees weakening at the innocent display of intimacy. His cheek felt hot where Adam’s lips had pressed against it and Ronan longed to feel it again.

“See you tomorrow,” Adam said with a wave, smiling over his shoulder one last time before disappearing into the night.

Ronan lied awake in his bed the entire night after, pinching himself to check if he had been dreaming or not. After a while, when minutes started to blend into each other, Ronan couldn’t tell what was real and what was a dream anymore.

But then Adam was standing in front of him the next day. His shoulders slightly straighter, his eyes still tired but cheerful as well. He didn’t tell Ronan his order, instead, he handed him the money, a little note attached to one of the dollar bills with his phone number on it and Ronan finally let himself believe this was real. 

Adam didn’t get less tired the remainder of his first year. There were still all-nighters pulled, days where he felt like either crying or screaming or both, grades that weren’t as high as he had hoped for. But now, he had a caring boyfriend that looked out for him, bringing him coffee when he couldn’t keep his eyes open enough to read that last chapter, laying soft kisses on his shoulder when he was writing an essay that he couldn’t figure out the conclusion for, cuddling him to his chest when it all became too much and Adam wanted to do nothing more than just give up even though he knew that he would never do that.

Ronan watched as Adam bloomed more into himself, though he would never credit himself for that. Adam always had it in him, he just needed someone to remind him that he could. His dark circles faded a little and Adam looked happier than Ronan had ever seen him. Ronan felt happier himself too, whistling as he got to work, play fighting with Blue in between customers, smiling a genuine smile instead of a bitter one.

It was a careful balance between them, one that had come naturally. They didn’t push or pull the other too much and instead felt what the other needed. Sure, they made mistakes and fucked up, but they were happier and more themselves than they had been before. 

And it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on [Tumblr](clawsnbeak.tumblr.com)


End file.
